But men often mistake killing and revenge for justice. They seldom have the stomach for justice ― ROBERT JORDAN

Cat heard a chilling scream rend the air as if someone had been shot. In the middle of making his escape, Alex's head shot up as he realized the sound came from somewhere right outside her cabin. Cat didn't think about it as she instinctively ran towards the sound unconsciously adjusting her dress.

Rushing to the senior executive suites lined up at the north end of the hall, Cat came to a sudden stop as a sickly, sweet smell assaulted her senses. Alex was right behind her and paused to look at her in inquiry. Taking a deep breath to prepare herself for the destruction she was about to witness, Cat carefully moved inside the cabin. It was dark, but she could see the shapes inside the room from the light spilling through the windows and the open doorway. Behind her, Alex flicked on the lights.

"I j-just found her... like that-" Katharine, who had been bent over Claire's body lying on the floor looked up in shocked amazement at them.

"Don't touch her or anything else," Cat said in a commanding tone as her training kicked in when she found Katherine reaching out to help Claire.

She quickly analyzed the body lying in the middle of the room and bent to check her pulse. Claire was dead, stretched out on her back with both hands pressed over her ribs in a peaceful pose as if she had fallen asleep in the middle of the floor. The sluggishly bleeding wound from somewhere under her folded hands spilled on the wooden finished floor, the look of surprised horror frozen on her face, and eyes that were wide open, clearly showed she was anything but.

Seeing no other visible signs of trauma in addition to the paleness of her skin and the glassy veiled eyes pointed to signs that she had been killed pretty recently. The absence of any struggle or blood spatter also suggested that she hadn't been stabbed in this office but somewhere else. All this was going through her head when she sensed a movement behind her. Alex came and stood next to her. She looked at him and shook her head. He whipped out his phone to call 911 and then spoke to someone else in brusque tones.

"Send Jason and Jerry to Rick Shore's office right now."

Disconnecting, he stared down at Claire's body for a second and she saw a look of such naked pain and... fear cross his face that for a moment she wondered if Claire and he had been more than boss and employee? But then, Alex met her gaze, and his face cleared of all expression so fast that she wondered whether she had imagined the whole thing.

He walked over to his catatonic employee who was kneeling down next to Claire as silent gasps issued from her palm-covered mouth. Alex gently grasped her shoulders supporting her to stand, "Katherine, look at me. Everything is going to be all right. The cops are on their way and all is going to be taken care of. Now, I want you to wait outside and one of the security guys will take you home."

"I... I just c-came in to leave some mail for Mr. Shore. I hadn't even...switched on the lights. I just found her lying there. Will she... is she-?"

"We can't do anything more for her right now. You are in shock and I want you to take the rest of the week off. I'll let security know you're grabbing your things from your office and someone will escort you home."

Jason entered the room and as his sharp eyes assessed the situation, he looked to Alex who stared back at him. After some secret, silent communication took place, Jason pulled off his coat and wrapped it around Katherine's shoulders who had started shivering from the reaction.

"Logan will escort you home. He's one of the best we have. The cops can come and question you in the morning if they want. I will hold them off till then," Alex reassured her.

Kate turned to walk out of the room led by Jason when she spoke in a hesitant voice, "She is-was a good girl. Who could have done this to her? I h-hope Claire didn't suffer much."

"She didn't."

It was a false platitude, but Cat felt compelled to give it to her after she had just seen the tender scene being played out in front of her. She knew in the back of her mind that Alex was just being gentle and caring toward an employee who'd suffered an unexpected trauma. But when he had looked at Kate with such soft understanding, Cat had been blown away as she'd felt a flash of gut-wrenching nausea and misplaced anger.

Whatever had happened between them before... had to stay locked up. She couldn't allow it to mess with her head. She knew this situation had become even more dangerous and the stakes had just been raised.

As Jason and Katherine left the room, Alex squatted beside Claire's body and gently closed her eyes. The Chief of Security entered the office and paled as he saw the dead body and his boss bent next to it. Alex's voice was pure steel with no gentleness and no emotion when he spoke, "I want all the security tapes and a list of all the employees who were in the building for the past five hours. Also, make sure the cops come here directly and keep it quiet until I say so."

"I'm so sorry, sir. My team was monitoring the security footage the whole afternoon. There was nothing the least bit suspicious. How did this happen?"

"Isn't that what I pay you for?"

"Mr. Knight, sir-" The man paled even more at Alex's brusque tone and looked ready to face whatever punishment would be doled out for essentially being caught with his pants down at his job.

"Don't waste my time, Jerry. Just do your job."

"Yes, sir."

He stopped hovering and left the room. Alex stood up and wearily rubbed the back of his neck. Moving to stand beside him, Cat felt the insane urge to put her arms around his back and comfort him as she had...earlier in her office. Knowing it wouldn't be received with the same kindness he'd afforded Katharine, Cat fisted her hands so she wouldn't do anything stupid. Even after everything that had happened, she felt she couldn't trust or confide in him. Not yet.

Maybe never.

"She was stabbed in the chest someplace else. Her wounds are still fresh so it was pretty recent. Did Claire annoy someone with her preppy talk and super talent for organizing so well that she was shanked for her efforts?" She asked with her usual flair, trying to distract him from the heaviness of the situation. After all, it wasn't every day that you found someone murdered in your own office.

"You're pretty calm about all this. I thought I would need to send you home with Jason and Katherine."

She didn't want to talk about his perky secretary so soon after her recently discovered, unwanted feelings of jealousy. Especially after the way he'd been ready to walk out of that office as if nothing had happened between them earlier.

"I'm not so breakable. Anyway, what do you think must have happened? I saw the way you looked at her when you entered the room-"

There was a knock on the door and they both turned to see an average-height, lanky framed African American male walk inside.